86 
FOWLS — CUSCUS. 
simply on what they can pick up, they are 
generally rather meagre. Broods in every stage 
of development range in the gardens and by the 
roadsides. I believe the owner never gives them 
a thought till they are of marketable size. There 
are no cows here, but the natives need not lack 
flesh ; there are tlie wild pig, the deer, and the 
cuscus. This last is a curious creature the size 
of a hare, but as different as may be in habit 
and action from that agile quadruped. The 
cuscus seems to be ever sleeping, and lives cling- 
ing to the stems and branches of trees, feeding 
solely on the leaves. We have two young ones, 
which I carefully feed and tend, and which 
interest me greatly. They grasp their food 
between the two fore paws, and eat — I was going 
to say like squirrels, but there is nothing frisky 
or vivacious in their movements ; they munch 
with great gravity, staring pathetically the while 
from their bright eyes. My pets do not seem to 
thrive ; they suffer from being out of their 
element probably. The young are brought up 
as kangaroos are, in the mother’s pouch. 
Fruits and vegetables abound ; with a j udicious 
use of the various kinds of food at command, the 
natives need not suffer from the painful-looking 
sores and eruptions which disfigure such a large 
